Blogger raises funds to tweet from phone-hacking trial

A blogger who turned to crowdfunding website Indiegogo to raise money to tweet from the UK's phone-hacking trial has hit his target.

Peter Jukes has raised more than £4,000 to pay "his living expenses" for the trial's duration.

The trial of News of the World staff including ex-editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson has attracted huge media interest.

Mr Jukes has followed the case for some years, including writing a book.

He attended court in London to hear the prosecution's opening remarks and posted details of proceedings, expressing surprise that live tweeting was allowed for the rest of the trial.

While he wanted to continue, he said on his blog that he would have to stop "for financial reasons".

"I'm broke (mortgage-defaulting broke to be honest) and so will have to seek other work in the months ahead," he wrote.

But following many requests to continue he decided to turn to crowdfunding to raise money to cover his basic costs.

"Despite a bit of embarrassment, I'm going to put pride to the side and see if I can do that," he said on his Indiegogo page.

A day later, Mr Jukes hit his target, with six days of funding left to run. He said the amount would allow him to continue covering the case until Christmas.

The trial is expected to last for up to six months. There are eight defendants - some are charged with phone hacking or conspiracy to commit misconduct and others with perverting the course of justice. All the charges are denied.

The judge, Justice Saunders, has already made clear his feelings about the importance of the trial, saying that the case puts UK justice on trial as well as the defendants.

Mr Jukes has been following the case for online publication The Daily Beast and has also written a book The Fall of the House of Murdoch.